The many Irish surnames in use today have long rich histories behind them. The name O'Mahoney originally appeared in Gaelic as O Mathghamhna, which is derived from the word mathghamhan, which means bear. The modern spelling is O Mahúna.

Early Origins of the O'Mahoney family

The surname O'Mahoney was first found in County Cork (Irish: Corcaigh) the ancient Kingdom of Deis Muin (Desmond), located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the province of Munster, where they held a family seat from ancient times.

Early History of the O'Mahoney family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our O'Mahoney research.Another 357 words (26 lines of text) covering the years 1014, 1639, 1679 and 1987 are included under the topic Early O'Mahoney History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

O'Mahoney Spelling Variations

Many variations of the name O'Mahoney were found in archives from the Middle Ages. Names during the Middle Ages were typically recorded as they sounded and in many cases, one's surname spelling changed with each record.The spelling and language in which the people's names were recorded was often up to the individual scribe. Variations of the name O'Mahoney found include Mahoney, O'Mahoney, O'Mahony, Mahony and others.

Early Notables of the O'Mahoney family (pre 1700)

Another 46 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early O'Mahoney Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the O'Mahoney family to the New World and Oceana

Irish families fled the English-colonized Ireland in record numbers during the 19th century for North America. Many of those destitute families died from disease during, and even shortly after, the long journey. Although those that immigrated before the Great Potato Famine of the 1840s often were granted a tract of land, those that arrived later were generally accommodated in urban centers or in work camps. Those in the urban centers would labor in the manufacturing sector, whereas those in work camps would to build critical infrastructures such as bridges, canals, roads, and railways. Regardless of when these Irish immigrants came to North America, they were critical for the rapid development of the young nations of the United States and Canada. Early immigration and passenger lists have recorded many early immigrants bearing the name of O'Mahoney: Cornelius, Daniel, Denis, James, Jeremiah, John, Mary, Michael, Patrick, Peggy, Thomas, Timothy and William Mahoney, who all arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between 1840 and 1860.